TORONTO — While several members of a cross-denominational panel of young rabbis at Temple Sinai Congregation revealed they struggle with some common issues, there were clear divergences among them regarding the permeability of the walls of “the tent” of Judaism.

Entitled “Young Rabbis Speak: Where Are Your Jewish Boundaries,” the June 4 event was a joint initiative of Adath Israel Congregation, Beth Tzedec Congregation, Danforth Jewish Circle, Holy Blossom Temple and Temple Sinai Congregation, and was geared to people aged 25 to 39.

About 70 people gathered to hear four rabbis from diverse backgrounds engage in a discussion moderated by the spiritual leader of the Annex Shul, Yacov Fruchter, on weighty topics such as interfaith relationships, and gender and sexuality.

The panel comprised Reform Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg of Temple Sinai, Conservative Rabbi Adam Cutler of Beth Tzedec Congregation, modern Orthodox Rabbi Noah Cheses of Shaarei Shomayim Congregation and Reconstructionist Rabbi Miriam Margles of the Danforth Jewish Circle. 

Fruchter – who stressed that the rabbis were representing themselves and not their synagogues, and that “tonight is about understanding, not convincing the other” – didn’t shy away from asking tough questions.

“I believe in the power of multi-denominational conversations,” he said.

He asked the rabbis to articulate why they became a rabbi in their particular denomination, as well as places within that denomination where they struggle to draw boundaries.

Rabbi Cutler described initially feeling that he straddled the line between Orthodox and Conservative, but ultimately chose Conservative, because “it works for me intellectually – it allows me to challenge everything and read all kinds of [scholarship], but also to lead a life that I think in some ways is like the life Jews led hundreds of years ago.”

He said it can be challenging to square Shabbat observance with inclusivity for people who, for example, have disabilities that make it hard to participate ritually without the use of certain technologies.

He also noted that having to draw certain boundaries around inclusion of homosexual Jews is a matter that “rends my heart and causes me to lose sleep.”

Rabbi Mikelberg said Reform Judaism represents values he holds dear, such as inclusivity, modernity and searching for innovative ways to “do Jewish,” adding that, “We have a very big tent in Reform, but it still has walls.”

Boundary issues arise when, for example, he’s asked by interfaith couples if it’s OK to raise kids with two religions, and he feels strongly that “There’s gotta be one religion in the house.”

Rabbi Margles said Reconstructionism appealed to her because she believes in a Judaism that evolves in response to a changing world, and that Jewish boundaries are often informed by a fear of survival or a sense the world is against us –symptoms of being a “traumatized people” long hounded by persecution.

Rabbi Cheses said his ideology aligns with modern Orthodoxy, but that he’s sometimes challenged by the rigidity of the Halachah regarding issues such as women’s public roles in Judaism.

“Our traditions are hetero-normative, but our culture is egalitarian. I believe we must change at a rate the system can absorb,” he said.

 Fruchter later asked the rabbis what they’d be willing to do to help a same-sex couple celebrate their marriage.

“Everything!” Rabbi Margles exclaimed. “Judaism values building a home with Jewish life and learning, and there’s no reason a same-sex couple can’t do that.”

Rabbi Cheses said he would approach the matter “with a broken heart,” and that, though he sees the widening gulf between Halachah and contemporary social norms as a “risk,” there isn’t much he could offer a same-sex couple in the way of actively supporting a wedding ceremony or lifestyle.

Rabbi Cutler said he’d be happy to celebrate with a same-sex couple and to act as their spiritual mentor, but would refer them to another rabbi to officiate their wedding.

And Rabbi Mikelberg, who is married to another Jewish man, said, “Any marriage between two Jews is an occasion to celebrate.”

Interestingly, while each of the rabbis acknowledged, to varying degrees, that interfaith families shouldn’t be excluded from the community, none will officiate at an interfaith wedding.